Saturday, May 20, 2017

Kokrak rolls in birdies, rolls to five-shot lead

with a 61 at Byron Nelson Tournament

IRIVING, Texas – Jason Kokrak hasn’t sniffed a top-10 this year, but he went out on Friday at TPC Four Seasons and fired an 8-under 62 to build a five-shot lead at the ATandT Byron Nelson.It was another example of why golf is such a crazy game.“All week I've been feeling better and better with the putter,” Kokrak said after taking 26 putts in Round 1 and 25 on Friday. “Dave Stockton Jr. and his dad have helped me out the last few weeks, and things are starting to kind of go in an upturn.”

At 12 under par, Kokrak tied the 36-hole tournament record, and his 62 was the lowest round of his US PGA Tour career.The 31-year-old is in his sixth year on Tour, and he has yet to win in 145 starts. The only other time Kokrak held the 36-hole lead he finished tied for second at the 2016 Genesis Open.He heads into the weekend five clear of Billy Horschel, with Dustin Johnson among six players a stroke back at 6 under.So, yeah, Kokrak knows he has a big lead, but this thing is far from over.“You got the No. 1 player in the world chasing you, you got X number of other players that are outstanding players that they're all chasing me,” he said. “Same game plan, just give myself birdie opportunities. I'm rolling the putter pretty well. Keep doing that and give myself as many opportunities as I can.”SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARDPar 140 (2x70)Players from USA unless stated otherwise128 Jason Kokrak 66 62133 Billy Horschel 68 65134 Byeong Hun An (S Korea) 68 66, Dustin Johnson 67 67, Cameron Tringale 66 68, Bud Cauley 67 67, James Hahn 64 70, Jhonattan Vegas (S America) 66 68.SELECTED SCORES138 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 71 67, Seamus Power (Ireland) 69 69 (T25).139Greg Owen (England) 69 70 (T38)141 Ian Poulter (England) 70 71 (T60)+Scores of 142 and better qualified for final two rounds